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C Vitali

Publications and source records attributed to C Vitali.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Extracts from St John's Wort and their antimicrobial activity.

In an effort to carry out a more in-depth investigation on the antimicrobial properties of H. perforatum, we have assayed different extracts (MeOH; petroleum ether; CHCl(3) and EtOAc) from the aerial parts of the plant against selected microorganisms. Growth inhibition was observed only for Gram-positive bacteria, B. subtilis and B. cereus being the most susceptible to the tested drugs. The Hypericum extract obtained with EtOAc was the most active. The main constituents of this extract, as determined by HPLC analysis, were flavonoids, hypericins and hyperforins. Incubation of the selected microorganisms with the pure chemicals resulted in a significant inhibition of their growth by hypericin, hyperforin and its stable dicyclohexilammonium salt. Flavonoids appeared inactive at all.

Anti-Infective Agents↗
PubMed2002

Clinical, immunological, and immunogenetic aspects of autoantibody production against Ro/SSA, La/SSB and their linear epitopes in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS): a European multicentre study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical and immunogenetic aspects of antibody formation against Ro/SSA and La/SSB as well as their linear B cell epitopes in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) from different European countries. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety patients with pSS from six European centres were studied. Serum samples from all patients were tested in a control laboratory for anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB autoantibodies by RNA precipitation assay and autoantibodies to the previously reported B cell linear epitopes of Ro 60 kDa (p169-190aa and p211-232aa) and La/SSB (p147-154aa, p291-302aa, p301-318aa, and p349-364aa). DNA from 88 patients was used for the determination of HLA-DRB1, -DQA1, and -DQB1 genotypes. Analysis of the results was performed in the 88 patients who were genotyped and tested also for antipeptide antibodies. RESULTS: Antibodies to B cell epitopes of Ro 60 kDa were detected at a low frequency (range 10-37%). In contrast, B cell epitopes of La/SSB were detected frequently (range 58-86%) among the anti-La/SSB positive sera. Autoantibodies to the La/SSB epitope, p349-364aa, were significantly positively associated with longer disease duration (p<0.05), recurrent or permanent parotid gland enlargement (p<0.005), and a higher proportion of non-exocrine manifestations (p<0.005), compared with patients without autoantibodies. The presence of anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB autoantibodies was significantly associated with the presence of HLA-DRB1*03 and DQB1*02 (p=0.038 and p=0.034, respectively). This association was even more prominent and extended to HLA-DQA1*0501 when patients were stratified according the presence of autoantibodies to discrete La/SSB B cell epitopes in comparison with autoantibody negative patients (p<0.01). They were found also to be highly associated with the alleles HLA-DQB1*02 and HLA-DQA1*0501 as well as the presence of a shared amino acid motif in the region 59-69aa of DQB1 first domain (p<0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Autoantibodies against La/SSB, binding to four synthetic peptides, derived from the sequence of the La protein were identified with increased frequency in sera of patients with pSS. The formation of autoantibodies against B cell epitope analogues of La/SSB in European patients with pSS may be dependent on the presence of a permissive HLA-DQ heterodimer, most prominently represented by the HLA-DQA1*0501/DQB1*0201 heterodimer, suggesting that a model of HLA restricted presentation of La/SSB peptide determinants is crucial for the autoimmune response against La/SSB.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Classification criteria for Sjögren's syndrome: a revised version of the European criteria proposed by the American-European Consensus Group.

Classification criteria for Sjögren's syndrome (SS) were developed and validated between 1989 and 1996 by the European Study Group on Classification Criteria for SS, and broadly accepted. These have been re-examined by consensus group members, who have introduced some modifications, more clearly defined the rules for classifying patients with primary or secondary SS, and provided more precise exclusion criteria.

Decision Making↗
PubMed2000

Allylsulfide constituents of garlic volatile oil as antimicrobial agents.

Six different mixtures of garlic distilled oils containing diallyl disulfide (DDS) and diallyl trisulfide (DTS), ranging from 1 to 51% and 88 to 38% respectively, have been assayed against a number of yeasts (C. albicans, C. tropicalis and B. capitatus), gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus and B. subtilis) and gram-negative bacteria (P. aeruginosa and E. coli). Results obtained support a specific antifungal more than an antibacterial activity and implicate DDS as the active constituent. Incubation of garlic extracts made up of 1% DDS and 88% DTS resulted, in fact, in the absence of growth inhibition against all the tested microorganisms, whereas garlic oils with higher quantities of DDS showed significant inhibitory activity, increasing with the increase of DDS amount.

Allyl Compounds↗
PubMed2000

The validity of the ECLAM index for the retrospective evaluation of disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus.

AIM: To determine whether the European Consensus Lupus Activity Measurement Index (ECLAM) can be used to evaluate disease activity in patients retrospectively from the data provided in their clinical charts. METHODS: The ECLAM score was calculated twice in a series of 64 consecutive SLE patients: first for each patient during the course of a standard clinical evaluation (direct-ECLAM), and then one to two weeks later solely on the basis of the data provided in the patient's clinical chart (chartECLAM). The scorings for each patient were performed by two different assessors. RESULTS: The direct-ECLAM and chart-ECLAM scores were highly correlated (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient = 0.86). The regression line was not significantly different from the identity line (t-test). The Pearson's coefficient was 0.88. The interobserver variability of the chart-ECLAM showed a low inter-rater variability. CONCLUSION: ECLAM could represent a valid and reliable instrument for the retrospective analysis of disease activity in SLE patients.

Disease Progression↗
PubMed1999

Presence of antibodies against Helicobacter pylori and its heat-shock protein 60 in the serum of patients with Sjögren's syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Helicobacter pylori infection elicits a local and systemic immune response against bacterial antigens, including a heat-shock protein of 60 kDa (HSP60). The homology between microbial and human HSP suggests that the immune response to bacterial HSP may play a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders. Since gastric involvement and H. pylori have been reported in Sjögren's syndrome (SS), we investigated the prevalence of antibodies against H. pylori and its specific HSP60 in sera from patients with SS. METHODS: Four groups of patients were studied. Group 1, 34 patients with primary SS (pSS); Group 2.19 patients with secondary SS; Group 3, 22 patients with various autoimmune diseases and Group 4, 43 healthy controls. Serum IgG levels against HSP60 were determined by an ELISA using recombinant full length HSP60 expressed in Escherichia coli, as the antigen. To confirm the H. pylori infection, a commercial ELISA was used. RESULTS: Out of 34 patients in Group 1, 27 (79.4%) and 30 (88.2%) had antibodies against H. pylori and its HSP60, respectively. The prevalence was significantly higher than that found in Group 3 (18.2%, p < 0.0001 and 27.3%, p < 0.0001) and in Group 4 (48.8%, p < 0.005 and 37.2%, p < 0.0001) but not than that of Group 2 (48.8% and 37.2%). If the prevalence of patients either positive or negative for both antibodies was considered, a statistically significant difference was found between Group I and respectively Groups 3 and 4. CONCLUSION: The hypothetical role of HSP60 in the development of the immune response both in pSS and secondary SS seems strictly linked to the prevalence rate of H. pylori infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Development of a clinical chart to compute different disease activity indices for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Between 1990 and 1995 a European Consensus Group carried out a multicenter study to reach agreement of the definition of disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A new index, the European Consensus Lupus Activity Measurement (ECLAM) index, was developed. In a second phase of the study, a prospective survey aimed at validating ECLAM and 4 other scales as steady-state and transition indices for disease activity in SLE was completed. We present the results of this survey. A standardized clinical chart was developed, together with a computer program that could automatically calculate the ECLAM score, as well as the scores for some of the disease activity scales most widely used at present, i.e., the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group, Systemic Lupus Activity Measure, SLE Disease Activity Index, and the SLE Index Score (SIS). With the participation of 28 centers in 15 different European countries, data from 121 prospectively selected new lupus patients were collected. The validity of the 5 activity scales was assessed by comparing the computed scores for each patient to a gold standard, i.e., the physician's subjective judgment on disease activity measured using a semiquantitative scale. All the indices were found to be valid instruments for measuring disease activity in SLE in both the steady-state and transition phases. The results for the various indices closely correlated with one another. Thus, the computerized chart developed by the European Consensus Group offers a simple and reliable instrument to assess disease activity and could be used to monitor lupus patients both in clinical practice and in clinical trials.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed1998

The diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome: definition and validation of classification criteria for this disorder.

Classification criteria currently exist for most of the rheumatic diseases. Different criteria sets have also been proposed in the past for Sjögren's syndrome (SS), but none of these has been validated and no single one is in general use by the entire scientific community. Between 1988 and 1996 the European Study Group for the Classification Criteria for SS performed a multicenter study in which a new classification criteria set for this disease was defined and then validated. This European set of classification criteria for SS is rapidly becoming the most widely accepted procedure to classify patients with the primary and secondary variants of the syndrome.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed1997

Antimicrobial activity of polyacetylenes from Bellis perennis and their synthetic derivatives.

The chemical investigation of the essential oils from the aerial organs of Bellis perennis L., the common daisy, showed that polyacetylenes were one of the dominant class of compounds. The major constituents, methyl deca-4,6-diynoate and deca-4,6-diynoic acid, and their structural analogues, deca-4,6-diyne, dimethyl octa-3,5-diyne-1,8-dioate and deca-4,6-diyne-1,10-dioic acid, were synthesised and their antimicrobial activity evaluated. Only deca-4,6-diynoic acid and deca-4,6-diyne-1,10-dioic acid showed antimicrobial activity, being the two compounds mainly effective against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, respectively. Structure-activity relationships of the tested polyacetylenes are discussed.

Acetylene↗
PubMed1997

Quantitative assessment of salivary gland inflammatory infiltration in primary Sjögren's syndrome: its relationship to different demographic, clinical and serological features of the disorder.

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between the degree of inflammatory infiltration of salivary glands in Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and the different demographic, clinical and serological features of the disease. A quantitative assessment of the extension of the infiltrates was performed on histology samples from the labial salivary glands (LSG) of 82 patients with primary SS, by calculating the ratio of the infiltrated area to the total area of glandular tissue in the samples. The correlations between the amount of inflammatory infiltrate and the main features of the disorder were then analysed. A significant negative correlation between the degree of LSG infiltration and the patient's age at disease onset was observed (P < 0.05). In contrast, the percentage of infiltrate did not correlate with the disease duration. A significant correlation was found between the degree of infiltration of the salivary tissue and (i) the total number of extraglandular features (P < 0.01) and (ii) the presence of specific extraglandular features such as Raynaud's phenomenon (P < 0.05), vasculitis (P < 0.0001), lymph node or spleen enlargement (P < 0.05) and leucopenia (P < 0.02). Finally, patients with antinuclear antibodies, anti-SSA/Ro antibodies, or anti-SSA/Ro plus anti-SSB/La antibodies showed a more widespread inflammatory infiltration in the LSG tissue than patients without these autoantibodies (P < 0.01). The degree of infiltration in the salivary tissue was significantly greater in those patients with anti-SSA/Ro plus anti-SSB/La antibodies in their sera than in patients with anti-SSA/Ro antibodies alone (P < 0.05). In conclusion, patients with SS and active inflammatory infiltration of the salivary glands usually experience an earlier disease onset and a larger number of systemic extraglandular manifestations. In addition, the antibodies directed against certain nuclear/cytoplasmic specificities, and particularly those which react with the SSB/La antigen, seem to play a key role in enhancing the autoimmune process in the salivary glands.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Autosomal dominant transmission of familial laterality defects.

Heterotaxy results from failure to establish normal left-right asymmetry during embryonic development. Most familial cases are thought to be autosomal recessive. We have identified a family in which 4 individuals from 3 generations manifest laterality defects. Twenty-five family members have been examined. Two have complete reversal of normal laterality (situs inversus) while 2 others have asplenia, midline liver, and complex cardiac malformations (situs ambiguus). Two additional obligate gene carriers are anatomically normal (situs solitus). Male-to-male transmission confirms autosomal inheritance. Identification of this family establishes an autosomal dominant form of laterality defect, suggesting that a portion of sporadic cases may be new-mutation dominant or unrecognized familial cases. The finding of all forms of laterality (solitus, ambiguus, and inversus) among obligate disease gene carriers within a single family may be relevant to genetic evaluation and counseling in apparently isolated patients with laterality disturbance.

Chromosome Aberrations↗
PubMed1996

Ophthalmological and neuro-ophthalmological involvement in Churg-Strauss syndrome: a case report.

BACKGROUND: It is well known that different types of eye involvement may develop during the course of systemic vasculitides. METHODS: We report here a case of Churg-Strauss syndrome (allergic granulomatous angiitis) characterized by the presence of multiple ophthalmological and neuro-ophthalmological lesions, i.e., mononeuritis of the fourth cranial nerve, multifocal choroidal ischaemia, and bilateral ischaemic optic neuropathy. RESULTS: Ischaemic lesions in the posterior ciliary plexus and chorio-retinal circulation, which appeared simultaneously after a phase of disease activity, were documented. CONCLUSION: The simultaneous occurrence of multiple ocular features in a patient with Churg-Strauss syndrome suggests that regional vasculitis may be the pathological mechanism underlying the multiple ophthalmological lesions in this disorder.

Choroid↗